USC looks to get healthy before game vs. Clemson

South Carolina will play its second straight game against an in-state foe when it faces Clemson Saturday night at Death Valley but this one will likely have a bit more hype surrounding it.After pulling away for a 24-7 win over Wofford last week, Carolina will try for its fourth straight win over the Tigers on Saturday.Although coaches advise their players to take it one game at a time, that's been hard for some of the Gamecocks. “We've been waiting,” USC defensive back Akeem Auguste said. “In the back of your head you know (it's coming).”Carolina defensive back D.J. Swearinger, who grew up 30 minutes from Clemson in Greenwood, said the Clemson game is very important to him.“It's a personal game for me and just about everybody in South Carolina, but especially the guys that live in the Upstate,” he said. “It's a personal game because we're right down the road from Clemson. To beat Clemson four times in a row would be great.”Swearinger and Auguste will be part of a USC secondary that will have the tough task of slowing down a Clemson offense that is ranked No. 6 in the nation, averaging over 535 yards per game.Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward admitted that it'll be a challenge transitioning from Wofford's option offense to the Tigers' high-powered spread attack but said he thinks the different offenses his unit has seen this year will help come Saturday. “Hopefully the grind that we've had this season is going to prepare us. Clemson is scoring a lot of points, putting a lot of yards up on people. We've got a big task ahead of us,” he said.The Gamecocks' task could get even harder if star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is unable to play. The sophomore is banged up with a foot and knee injury.Clowney's foot has been an issue for most of the season, and he tweaked his knee last week. He didn't practice at all last week and missed the game against Wofford.The status of quarterback Connor Shaw is also up in the air. Shaw also has a banged up foot but played through the pain against the Terriers.USC head coach Steve Spurrier said that if Clowney and Shaw can't go he still feels his team will be ready.“We'll be ready to play. If Clowney and Connor cannot play then we've got backup players. They'll be ready to play,” Spurrier said.Still, he is hopeful two of his most important players will be OK come Saturday.“I would think they would try to do everything to get ready to play in this one,” he said. “We'll certainly know a lot more by Wednesday.”If Shaw does play he'll look to improve on an uninspiring performance through the air against the Terriers.Shaw did complete 16 of 20 passes but finished with just 122 yards passing and an interception. He was also sacked four times.Spurrier said the passing game's performance against Wofford does worry him.“Our passing game is a concern. We didn't protect extremely well at times, and we just didn't throw it down the field very much yesterday,” he said. While the passing game struggled against the Terriers, Kenny Miles and the running game thrived. Miles finished with a career-high 127 yards on the ground against Wofford.The senior is now hoping to continue his stretch of big games against Clemson.In two career starts against the Tigers, he's rushed for a combined 185 yards, running for 114 as a freshman in 2009 and 71 as a junior last season. He set his season high in both 2009 and 2011 against the Tigers.Miles said he enjoys facing Clemson because of the magnitude of the rivalry.“They don't like us that much and we don't care for them that much. I just feel like it's a rivalry game,” he said. “Rivalry games are big games. You've gotta step up when you get the chance. It's a big, huge rivalry. I know both teams will be ready to play.”